As the construction of the $50 million Paul Business College is finalized, University of New Hampshire administrators are no doubt excited and relieved that the state-of-the-art building is set to open this semester. Despite funding mishaps and a delayed opening, the Paul College will be a boon to the university in the long term.

But as university officials consider their next investment, they should look past more brick-and-mortar projects, past the technolog- rich classrooms of the Paul College and into the future of education: digital classrooms.

UNH does offer a limited selection of online courses. According to its online course catalog, the university has 21 undergraduate and three graduate online-only courses, which require no campus visits, for the spring semester. Most are higher-level courses, with only six 400- and 500-level online-only courses being offered this spring. The university also introduced an online MBA program during fall 2012.

In his State of the University address during the fall semester, university President Mark Huddleston highlighted UNH’s increased focus on online education.

“These courses make us more effective, efficient, and competitive,” Huddleston said.

While UNH is moving in the right direction, it could be overrun by far more expansive online education initiatives if it does not act quickly.

Coursera is a company that teams with universities to offer online courses to students around the world. According to a New York Times Op-Ed penned by Thomas Friedman and published on Jan. 26 titled “Revolution hits the universities,” Coursera currently teaches 2.4 million students from around the globe, offering 214 courses from 33 universities.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard have collaborated on a massive open online course (MOOC) project called edX. According to the op-ed, 155,000 students have taken an MIT intro course on circuits since May through edX.

Online education is clearly a burgeoning industry. But it is not without its dissidents. Gregory Ferenstein of TechCrunch.com wrote on Jan. 13 that the California State University System’s $150 million online education pilot “will end college as we know it.” Ferenstein said that online courses would reduce the need for community colleges and part-time professors, slashing the number of graduate students in turn. He points to the increased success many students have had taking online courses, writing “computers can — and have — successfully replaced teachers.”

The flaw with Ferenstein’s logic is that he seems to base his theory around the idea that online courses are impersonal, with students being fed an automated lesson with little-to-no professor and student interaction. Indeed, there would be less of a need for professors if that were the case.

But that is not necessarily true of online courses. As Friedman points out in his op-ed, Princeton sociology professor Mitch Duneier recently wrote an essay for The Chronicle of Higher Education about his experience teaching an online course. Duneier wrote that he was able to do a close reading of a text in an online course with 40,000 students, eliciting thousands of responses in online forums and shaping the way Duneier would continue to teach his class in the future.

Teaching online can allow professors to more easily connect with each of their students, as they can use the speed of technology to answer questions and hold conferences. Limited office hours would no longer hold professors back from meeting with their students.

As UNH continues to deal with the ramifications of state budget cuts, it has the chance to expand the size of its student body without spending money on more academic buildings or dormitories. And as tuition costs continue to rise, more prospective students will elect to obtain many of their college credits online.

The university should capitalize on the opportunity to join an expanding industry and create new revenue streams, all while extending UNH’s influence and brand around the globe.